Secrets
by Laurus Nobilis
Summary: Hermione discovers Professor Lupin's secret.


**Secrets**

_Disclaimer:_ All characters are copyright J. K. Rowling. Part of the dialogue is directly copied from _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ (the lines you recognize). 

Hermione was sitting in the common room all alone. Her eyes threatened to close, but she made an effort to stay awake. She had to finish that essay that night.

But what a day it had been! She couldn't remember much from that morning- only mud, Dementors, and Harry falling… Never before had she been so frightened. She and Ron had spent the rest of the day keeping Harry company in the hospital wing, and only now was she able to catch up with all her homework. 

No matter how much she tried to convince herself that it wasn't a problem, the Time-Turner was starting to get on Hermione's nerves. There was so much to do! She had tried to write her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay on Friday afternoon, but the Arithmancy exercises were really difficult, and then there was Ancient Runes… At least she had borrowed all the books she needed already. 

She yawned with such might that she accidentally blew out her candle. It took her some time to find it among all the books and rolls of parchment, but she finally lit it again. _Come on, concentrate…_

Although Hermione knew that she had a perfectly understandable excuse not to hand in the assignment on Monday, she was determined to finish it on time. She was still mad at Snape for the way he had treated her in class. 

At least Ron had stood up for her- but that was another problem, Ron. Who could possibly understand him? One minute he was the best friend in the world, and the next one he was complaining about his stupid rat. Boys could be really unnerving. 

Dealing with Snape was much easier. Hermione knew very well what would infuriate him the most: having to give her top grades. And, by God, she would _make him do it!_ She would write the longest, most accurate essay ever seen. 

She was thankful that at least the topic was interesting, because staying awake was getting really hard. The paragraph she was reading was written in particularly small letters, as if even books were trying to annoy her. 

_"… It is practically impossible to recognize a werewolf while in its human form, except for well-trained eyes. The only noticeable difference between humans and werewolves is the sickly appearance of the latter around the day of the full moon, which sometimes makes them look weaker or older than they truly are… "_

Suddenly something snapped in Hermione's head. An idea had come to her mind, but was it even possible? She quickly read what she had written- everything seemed to make sense. Unbelievable as it was, there was no doubt about it. 

Professor Lupin was a werewolf. 

For a few minutes Hermione just sat there in shock, staring at her work. It couldn't be true! In every book she had looked up, werewolves were described as savage beasts, dangerous even while in their human form. Lupin certainly was nothing like that. 

Yet there was a lot of evidence. Not just the tired look he had, but also the Boggart. Lavender had thought it to be a crystal ball,. Now Hermione knew she had been wrong: it was a full moon. And it had been a full moon on Friday, the day Lupin missed class. 

_Well, it certainly explains why he's so poor._ Hermione was pretty sure that no-one except Dumbledore would give a job to a werewolf, if people believed what it said in those books. And that was only if Dumbledore knew about this… She wondered if _Snape_ knew. Was it that why he hated Lupin so much? 

A yawn reminded Hermione of the time. Deciding to finish her homework the next day, she put the books away and tiredly headed to the girls' dormitory. 

* * * 

"If Snape's taking Defence Against the Dark Arts again, I'm going off sick. Check who's in there, Hermione." 

_So like Ron, asking someone else to do the job._ Hermione peered around the door, anyway, and was very happy to see that Lupin was back. "It's OK!" 

If she had any doubt left about what she had discovered, it was washed away when she took a closer look at her teacher. Lupin definitely looked ill; he was even thinner than before, pale, and with dark circles under his eyes. He didn't seem too pleased to hear about Snape's assignment. The class was very happy when he canceled it. 

"Oh, _no_! I've already finished it!" 

Hermione immediately bit her lip. Of course Lupin didn't want them to hand in that essay! She had said that only out of habit, but now she couldn't take it back. She was very surprised to see that, in spite of everything, Lupin smiled when he took her rolls of parchment. _He'd sure be a good actor!_

Although the lesson was very interesting, Hermione found herself easily distracted from the Hinkypunk. The more she watched Lupin, the more convinced she was of being right. But what should she do? Did she have to tell someone? He certainly wasn't doing any harm… 

The sound of giggles brought her back from her thoughts, and she discovered that Lavender and Parvati were looking at her. She quickly turned her eyes to the Hinkypunk, blushing a little. The last thing she wanted was people thinking she fancied a teacher. She still felt embarrassed when anyone mentioned Lockhart. 

When the lesson ended, Harry stayed behind for a while to talk to Lupin. Hermione was about to leave for her next class, but suddenly changed her mind. She decided that she needed to face him. Right after Harry left, she entered the room. Lupin was picking up his battered suitcase already, but he laid it on the desk again when he saw her come in. 

"Can I help you, Hermione?" 

"Professor, about my essay… " Hermione trailed off. What was the point of this, anyway? What did she gain by telling him she had found out the truth? At first she had thought she'd be relieved if she didn't had to keep such a secret. But now she realized that he'd be better off not knowing. 

Lupin smiled and answered her before she could think of what to say next. 

"Don't worry about it, I won't be too harsh. You'll understand that it only counts as extra credit, since none of your classmates handed it in." He frowned slightly, looking at Hermione's overloaded bag. "I honestly don't know how did you find the time to write this, with Harry's accident and everything. You work too much. How many books are you carrying there?" 

"Too many," Hermione admitted with a sigh. Tilting her head to move the bag to her other shoulder, she caught a glimpse of the classroom's clock and jumped. "I'd better be going, Professor- I should be at the other side of the castle by now!" 

"Of course," Lupin said, smiling as he shook his head. "I'll take a look at your work." 

"Thanks!" answered Hermione, already running down the hall. She stopped for breath in a deserted corner. As she searched for her Time-Turner, she decided that telling what she knew would do nothing but harm. 

_Even McGonagall had to admit it, _she thought, looking at her Time-Turner._  
Keeping secrets isn't always bad._


End file.
